Article

The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between stroke survivors and
their significant others on the severity of restrictions of functioning and to
investigate the change in this agreement in a 1-year follow-up. The 41 stroke
survivors and their significant others assessed the severity of impairment at the
end of in-patient interdisciplinary neurorehabilitation and 1 year later using a
structured form based on International Classification of Functioning, Disability
and Health (ICF). The main outcomes were as follows: (i) change in the severity
score of each observer on a particular restriction (intraobserver change); (ii)
change in difference in severity scores within each observer pair (interobserver
change); and (iii) change in agreement between interobserver differences in
severity scores during a 1-year follow-up. The significant others identified more
restrictions at baseline (256 vs. 194 ICF categories, chi P=0.004) than the
rehabilitants did. After 1 year, this difference became insignificant (218 vs.
207 ICF categories, chi P=0.59). The severity of perceived restrictions did not
differ over time (all P>0.05). Although significant others rated the restrictions
as slightly more severe than rehabilitants, the difference was not significant.
The agreement between severity scores within observer pairs showed a tendency to
improve during a 1-year follow-up. Statistically significant improvements in
Cohen's kappa agreement were found for muscle power (0.6-1.0), walking (0.7-0.9),
eating (0.7-1.0) and immediate family support (0.5-0.8).
The agreement between
stroke survivors and their significant others on the severity of the restrictions
of functioning showed a tendency to improve over time.

Langue : ANGLAIS